I have bought several items on Ebay and am continually surprised by the difference in condition ratings by US and European sellers. In the UK and Europe MINT means new condition (unused) MINT- means almost as good as new. In the US it seems to mean anything between a condition of between 6 and 9. Occasionally there are some truly mint items but there appears to be a marked difference in enthusiasm for describing items between the US and Europe. Has anyobody had the same experience? I now treat Mint- as grade 8. Even members of the Leica Historical Society get carried away with their descriptions. When I was selling a Leica item at Christies in London some years ago they told me that real collectors regard Mint as an item being in its original packing, and with pre-war items, also in its original tissue. There cannot be many MINT Leica items still around that are not in collections. What do other Ebay buyers and sellers think ?

-- Anthony Brookes (gdz00@lineone.net), December 12, 2000

Answers

Anthony,

As you have seen the word mint means different thing to different people. It is not only Ebay users. Many dealers use this and other terms to denote condition.

I have sold several photo items on Ebay. What I do is make sure everything works correctly. I then thoroughly clean the item and inspect for any marks. I then take good closeup pictures of the item. This allow the prospective buyer to see what they are buying.

I figure that if a seller can't take a good picture of the item I wouldn't want to buy it.

I give a complete description of the item and the type of equipment it is used on. I describe my current use of the item and that it is functional in every way.

I then make a recommendation that the buyer use an escrow service.

All the sales I have had have gone smoothly with both buyer and seller happy with the deal.

-- Marc Bergman (mbergma2@ix.netcom.com), December 12, 2000.

I don't pay that much attention to the overall rating. I look at whether the seller is telling what is wrong with the item, even it it minor. I figure if they list all the minor flaws, then there are not likely to be any major flaws to deal with.

To me, Mint means no visible defects with a close inspection with un aided eyes, but used. If has the original packing, it may be Mint In Box. If it hasn't been used, then it is New or New In Box. And this seems pretty common way to look at things.

Anything less than excellent is in pretty bad shape typically. But it may just be cosmetics so that doesn't mean that it is not usable, it just may not be pretty, but then again it may be pretty bad overall.

If you have any questions, ask the seller before hand.

You might want to check KEH (www.keh.com) to see how they define the rating terms.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), December 13, 2000.

It's an utterly subjective exercise masquerading as something approaching science.It's also what dissuaded me from further eBay transactions.Close inspection of the few truly revealing shots of bodies and lenses usually reveal sufficient brassing, scratches, dents, crud, etc. to discredit a seller touting "mint" or "mint-" goods.The used photo equipment market in my area is deep enough to supply me with what I need, as distinct from what I want.

-- Gary Watson (cg.watson@sympatico.ca), December 13, 2000.

I don't pay attention to an eBay seller's rating. Along with all of the above suggestions, I check "sellers other auctions to see if the seller specializes in photo gear, and then the feedback chart. I've had pretty good results with accessories, but when it came to buying a 25 year old Pentax KX, I called KEH.

-- Jeff Polaski (polaski@acm.org), December 14, 2000.

Sir Anthony, I beg your pardon. "In the UK and Europe MINT means new condition (unused)": would you please educate, for example, your british fellow "royalbob" who on ebay.co.uk writes

"*MINT* ROLLEI 35 ... .... IS IN NEAR NEW CONDITION. ... JUST A TINY MARK AT THE BACK (about 3mm long),VERY LIGHT SCUFF MARK AT TRIPOD BUSH AND A VERY SMALL DING AT BOTTAM REAR (about 2mm)....."

-- Konrad Beck (beckko@hotmail.com), December 14, 2000.

And beware of the anything labelled 'Perfect'. Trusting in the goodness of man, I got taken in by one seller on Ebay who described his Rolleiflex E as having a 'perfect' lens. Upon inspection, it revealed slight hazing. He maintained that that that was considered 'perfect' in his estimation, and that I was being picky. He refused to refund my money. It was a very expensive mistake. Perfect, Mint, Flawless...these terms mean anything the seller wishes them to mean. Caveat Emptor.

-- Rene (chipmunk63@telemail.it), December 16, 2000.

It isn't just in the US that people describe scuffed items as mint. I, a UK resident, have on several occasions driven many miles to inspect a mint condition camera body with absolutely no marks only to find that the article in question was well used i.e. brassed, dents etc despite being assured on the phone that the item was spotless.

I would say that lying toads do not know national boundaries. It's a shame.

As an aside I have sold several items myself and have been astonished when on each occasion the buyer asked me to mail the item to them on receipt of payment. In each case they were satisfied that I had described the condition fairly.

-- Leif Goodwin (lgoodwin@racalinst.co.uk), December 18, 2000.